Mam Tor Short Walk | 1 Mile
The walk up Mam Tor is one of the most popular walks in the Peak District, and for good reason! It’s a short walk to the summit but the views are amazing. The sunrise on Mam Tor can be epic! This Mam Tor short walk starts at the car park at Mam Nick and you can be at the top in 20 minutes.
The short walk up Mam Tor is via a mainly paved path with stone steps, making it a really popular walk with hikers and families. It’s also one of the best short walks in the Peak District for views.
Mam Tor is known as the Shivering Mountain because of the number of landslides over the years. It’s also known as the Mother Hill as the landslides have made little baby hills around her. Standing 517m high, Mam Tor has amazing views over the Edale valley and Castleton and is a perfect spot to see a sunrise or sunset in the Peak District.
Parking is the National Trust car park, which is a pay by phone car park. Please don’t park on grass verges or like an idiot – traffic wardens are out in force in the Peak District and there have been many stories online of people parking on grass verges and getting parking tickets. Please park responsibly. Also, wild camping is not permitted in the Peak District.
From Mam Nick car park, follow the steps to the top of the car park and walk along the road to a wooden gate with a National Trust sign. The gate will put you on the path up Mam Tor.
Partway up the path to Mam Tor you can see amazing views over the Edale Road and the Edale valley below.
The steps will lead you to the summit of Mam Tor, a short walk away, marked by a trig point. You might have to queue to take photos at the trig point!
Look out for the images sunken into the stones around the trig point. Mam Tor was the site of an Iron Age hillfort and there are lots of references to it around the site.
This is a great walk for kids to do, and you can either go back down the steps to the car park if you wanted a quick walk or extend it and walk from Mam Tor along The Great Ridge towards Lose Hill and down into Castleton for a longer walk out.
Sunrises at Mam Tor
Mam Tor is a popular place to watch the sunrise, and it’s no wonder! The sun lights up the whole of the Hope Valley and the colours in the sky can be amazing. You can see down The Great Ridge and it looks magical.
My top tips are to choose a day with some cloud cover and when it has been a clear night the day before. Be sure to get there around 30 minutes before sun up time, and don’t be surprised when it’s busy. Also, please don’t hog the trig point and be considerate of other people trying to take photos there.
Where do you park to walk Mam Tor?
The easiest place to park is in the Mam Nick car park, run by the National Trust. This is only a small car park so can get busy on weekends and during school holidays. The postcode for the Mam Tor car park is S33 8WA but this covers a large area so look out for the National Trust car park signs. It’s a pay by phone car park. Please park responsibly – parking on grass verges churns them up and is a silly way to avoid a £4 parking fee!
Does Mam Tor have a car park?
There is a National Trust car park at Mam Nick. For a more challenging walk you can park on street on Old Mam Tor Road and walk up, following the Broken Road (as we did when we walked from Mam Tor to Lose Hill). Don’t park on grass verges or block gates – if you can’t find a space, try further away or try another day.
How long does it take to walk up and down Mam Tor?
It depends on the length of the walk and which direction you come from, but this is a very short walk in the Peak District compared to some!
Here’s the route for this walk up Mam Tor:
Route Map (click the map to download the gpx file to your device):
Parking: Limited parking in the Mam Nick car park run by the National Trust – if you can’t find a space, don’t park on verges or block gates. Try further away or try another day – there’s plenty more sunrises.
Facilities: None but there are plenty of pubs, shops etc in nearby Castleton
Walk Time: 1 hour or less (you can be at the top in 15 minutes depending on your fitness)
Terrain: Tracks and stone steps
Difficulty: ▲▲
Distance: 1.5 miles there and back.
Trig Points Bagged: Mam Tor
Peak District Peaks Bagged: Mam Tor
Peak District Ethels Bagged: Mam Tor
What a fantastic post! The sunrise views from Mam Tor look absolutely breathtaking. I can’t wait to try this short walk and experience it for myself. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips!